Project - is “a temporary endeavor undertaken 6.

Human resource management - Motivation

to create a unique product, service, or result.” techniques, empathic listening, responsibility
assignment matrices
Operations - is work done in organizations to 7. Communications management -
sustain the business. Communications management plans, kick-off
Project sponsor - usually provides the direction meetings, conflict management,
and funding for the project. 8. Risk management - Risk management
plans, risk registers, probability/impact
Project manager - crucial to a project’s matrices, risk rankings
success it works with the project sponsors, the 9. Procurement management - Make-or-buy
project team, and the other people involved to analyses, contracts, requests for proposals or
meet project goals. quotes

Triple Constraints Project Success

Scope How do you define the success or failure of
Time a project?
Cost 1. The project met scope, time, and cost goals.
2. The project satisfied the customer/sponsor.
Quadruple Contraints 3. The results of the project met its main
Quality objective
Scope Time
Time What helps projects succeed?
Cost 1. User involvement
2. Executive support
Project management - the application of 3. Clear business objectives
knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to 4. Emotional maturity
project activities to meet project requirements. 5. Optimizing scope
6. Agile process
Stakeholders - are the people involved in or 7. Project management expertise
affected by project activities, and include the 8. Skilled resources
project sponsor, project team, support staff, 9. Execution
customers, users, suppliers, and even 10. Tools and infrastructure
opponents of the project.

Project Management tools and Techniques

Thomas Carlyle - a famous historian and Program - is “a group of related projects
author, stated, “Man is a tool-using animal. managed in a coordinated way to obtain
Without tools he is nothing, with tools he is all.” benefits and control not available from
managing them individually.”
Knowledge Area Tools and Techniques
1. Integration management - Project Common programs in the IT field
selection methods, project management Infrastructure
methodologies, stakeholder analyses, Application development
2. Scope management - Scope statements, User Support
work breakdown structures, statements of work,
requirements analyses. Program manager - provides leadership and
3. Time management - Gantt charts, project direction for the project managers heading the
network diagrams, critical path analysis projects within a program.
4. Cost management - Project budgets, net
present value, return on investment, payback Project managers also support an emerging
analysis business strategy of project portfolio
5. Quality management - Quality metrics, management in which organizations group
checklists, quality control charts, Pareto and manage projects and programs as a
diagrams portfolio of investments that contribute to the
entire enterprise’s success.
Best practice - is “an optimal way recognized
by industry to achieve a stated goal or
objective.”

There are three basic IT project portfolio

categories:
1. Venture: Projects in this category help
transform the business.
2. Growth: Projects in this category would help
the company grow in terms of revenues.
3. Core: Projects in this category must be
accomplished to run the business.

Ten most important skills and

competencies for project managers
1. People skills
2. Leadership
3. Listening
4. Integrity, ethical behavior, consistency
5. Strength at building trust
6. Verbal communication
7. Strength at building teams
8. Conflict resolution, conflict management
9. Critical thinking, problem solving
10. Understanding and balancing of priorities

Ten hottest IT skills.

1. Skill Percentage of Respondents
2. Programming and application development
3. Project management
4. Help desk/technical support
5. Security/compliance governance
6. Web development
7. Database administration
8. Business intelligence/analytics
9. Mobile application and device management
10. Networking
11. Big data

Project Management Office (PMO) - is an

organizational group responsible for
coordinating the project management function
throughout an organization

Professional certification - is an important

factor in recognizing and ensuring quality in a
profession.
Systems approach - holistic and analytical Organizational culture - is a set of shared
approach to solving complex problems assumptions, values, and behaviors that
characterize the functioning of an organization.
Systems philosophy - is an overall model for
thinking about things as systems. 10 characteristics of organizational culture:
1. Member identity: The degree to which
Systems analysis - is a problem-solving employees identify with the organization as a
approach that requires defining the scope of whole rather than with their type of job or
the system, dividing it into components, and profession.
then identifying and evaluating its problems, 2. Group emphasis: The degree to which
opportunities, constraints, and needs work activities are organized around groups or
teams, rather than individuals
Systems management - addresses the 3. People focus: The degree to which
business, technological, and organizational management’s decisions take into account the
issues associated with creating, maintaining, effect of outcomes on people within the
and modifying a system organization.
4. Unit integration: The degree to which units
The Three-Sphere Model for Systems or departments within an organization are
Management encouraged to coordinate with each other
1. Business 5. Control: The degree to which rules, policies,
2. Technology and direct supervision are used to oversee and
3. Organization control employee behavior.
6. Risk tolerance: The degree to which
The Four Frames of Organizations employees are encouraged to be aggressive,
1. Structural frame - deals with how the innovative, and risk seeking.
organization is structured (usually depicted in 7. Reward criteria: The degree to which
an organizational chart) and focuses on rewards, such as promotions and salary
different groups’ roles and responsibilities to increases, are allocated according to employee
meet the goals and policies set by top performance rather than seniority, favoritism,
management. or other nonperformance factors
2. Human resources (HR) frame - focuses on 8. Conflict tolerance: The degree to which
producing harmony between the needs of the employees are encouraged to air conflicts and
organization and the needs of people criticism openly
3. Political frame - addresses organizational 9. Means-ends orientation: The degree to
and personal politics. Politics in organizations which management focuses on outcomes
take the form of competition among groups or rather than on techniques and processes used
individuals for power, resources, and to achieve results
leadership 10. Open-systems focus: The degree to
4. Symbolic frame - focuses on symbols and which the organization monitors and responds
meanings related to events. to changes in the external environment.

Organizational Structure Project life cycle - is a collection of phases.

Functional organizational structure - is the Phases break projects down into smaller, more
hierarchy most people think of when picturing manageable pieces, which will reduce
an organizational chart uncertainty.
Project organizational structure - also is
hierarchical, but instead of functional Deliverable - is a product or service, such as a
managers or vice presidents reporting to the technical report, a training session, a piece of
CEO, program managers report to the CEO. hardware, or a segment of software code,
produced or provided as part of a project
Matrix organizational structure - represents
the middle ground between functional and The first two traditional project phases
project structures. (concept and development) focus on planning,
and are often referred to as project feasibility.
The last two phases (implementation and
closeout) focus on delivering the actual work,
and are often referred to as project
acquisition.

Systems development life cycle (SDLC) - is

a framework for describing the phases of
developing information systems

RECENT TRENDS AFFECTING

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PROJECT
MANAGEMENT

1. Globalization
2. Outsourcing: Outsourcing is when an
organization acquires goods and/or sources
from an outside source. 3.Offshoring is
sometimes used to describe outsourcing from
another country 4. Virtual teams/distributed
teams: A virtual team is a group of individuals
who work across time and space using
communication technologies
5. Agile project management

It is important for project managers to address

several key issues when working on global
projects:
Issues
Communications
Trust
Common work practices
Tools
Suggestions
Employ greater project discipline
Think global but act local
Keep project momentum going
Use newer tools and technology

Agile - today means using a method based on

iterative and incremental development, in
which requirements and solutions evolve
through collaboration. Agile can be used for
software development or in any environment in
which the requirements are unknown or
change quickly.